Two hours, a ton of jewelry, a pound of makeup and seventeen outfits later—Nikki counted—she, Catherine and Trinity were finally—hopefully!—at the final stage of preparation for their night out. Sitting on elegant poufs and upholsters stools in Leanansidhe's 30-by-20 foot walk-in shoe closet, all three girls were already prepared to call it a night, and they hadn't even gotten out of the mansion yet. Nikki could only imagine what Puck and the guys were up to while they waited. Maybe playing poker to kill time and laying bets on how much longer she and the girls would take.
It wasn't as though Nikki had asked to get all dolled up. She'd have been more than happy to hit the town in her jeans and t-shirt. But apparently that as absolute heresy as far as Leanansidhe was concerned. The Exile Queen had absolutely insisted they get primped up and pretty, which, by her definition, involved skin-tight, faux leather pants, tube dresses in colors Nikki hadn't even thought existed, flashy enormous necklaces and earrings that made the Crown Jewels look like costume jewelry; a dozen different colors of lip gloss, eye shadow, and nail polish; and—Nikki felt ill just thinking about them—stilettos. To someone like Nikki, who spent the majority of her time either barefoot or strutting in Converse, stilettos were something like a personal hell sent to torment her, and all other females like her. And that included Catherine.
Trinity was a little less picky about her shoes, being the go-to fashionista of the group, and seemed just as enamored looking around at the seemingly endless supply of shoes as Leanansidhe, who was nitpicking over different pairs, contemplating aloud to herself whether or not they would match or clash with the outfits she'd chosen for all of them. As it was, Nikki was having a hell of a time sitting comfortably in her dress, which molded to every single part of her body in a way she thought should be illegal, and was a striking ruby color that she normally would have adored, if it hadn't looked as though she'd been dipped from the neck down into shimmering ruby body paint and left to dry. Just the spandex-ish material made it feel more like she was trying to sit in a full-length corset than anything else, and every breath she took strained the material until she thought she might just burst out of it.
After all, Nikki didn't consider herself a petite girl, at least not where certain parts of her were concerned. God had blessed her with a generous…well…needless to say, she was sorely missing her t-shirt right about now…
"Are we there yet?" she muttered in an aside to Catherine, who was sitting closest to her, and looked equally uncomfortable in clinging faux leather pants and a glitzy halter top that was seven different shades of green and sparkled just as vibrantly as Nikki's dress. The only add-on to the outfit was that Leanansidhe had decided to give Catherine a short jacket to cover the still very obvious puncture marks on her shoulder.
The girl turned to grimace at her friend. "Don't I wish?" she muttered back, leaning in so they could keep the conversation from Leanansidhe, who was at the far end of the closet, perusing a section of fashion boots that varied in color from taupe to teal. "I think I get why Puck was acting like the world was about to end when she suggested this."
"He's a smart guy, that Puck," Nikki said with a sly grin.
"No kidding," snickered Catherine, rolling her eyes. "You'd think we'd have learned by now to listen to him about things like this…"
Nikki nodded solemnly in agreement, then winced as a sudden trill from Leanansidhe indicated that the Dark Muse had found what she was looking for.
"Here we are!" the woman sang, straightening up and turning to them with a beaming smile, shoes in hand as she sashayed back over to them. "These will go perfectly with your outfits!"
To Trinity, who had been sitting on the edge of her pouf, seemingly unaware that the wrap dress she was wearing looked to be two sizes two small in spite of the girl's willowy build, and had the potential of snapping her in half at a given moment from sheer strain, Leanansidhe tossed a pair of glittery blue heels that nicely complimented the lilac color of her attire. Though Nikki's only focus on the shoes were the two ribbon straps that were apparently to keep one's foot inside, but only looked to serve as a death trap to the unwary. Like herself.
But Trinity didn't at all seem to care about the hazards presented by the shoes, and happily laced them onto her feet before sticking out her leg to examine them appreciatively from every angle. Nikki glanced sideways at Catherine, and saw her friend wearing a similar look of amused exasperation as she watched their blonde comrade.
"Cute," Trinity said, beaming up at Leanansidhe, "And they fit perfectly!"
"I thought they might," Leanansidhe trilled, looking absolutely giddy as she moved over to Nikki, placing down a pair of shoes that looked like they could have belonged to Dorothy's older, more scandalous sister. Strappy, glittery, and ruby red like her dress, Nikki took a second to eyeball the four inch spiked heel of the silettos.
"I might kill myself in these," she said slowly, glancing up at Leanansidhe, who had just handed Catherine a pair of knee-high boots with an equally lethal heel.
"Oh, please," scoffed the Dark Muse, rolling her eyes and grinning down at Nikki, as though she couldn't honestly believe that a woman was capable of killing herself in shoes.
Though Nikki thought 'stiletto' was a pretty apt name for a shoe like the ones in front of her. They looked pretty capable of killing someone, just like their unrelated dagger cousin.
"I'm dead serious," Nikki insisted, for once totally unwilling to go with Leanansidhe on this. She'd let herself be subjected to make-up, skin tight clothes and pretty much everything else she'd ever tried to avoid in her life, but this was where she put her foot down, no pun intended. "Look, I wear Converse for a living. Not Louboutin. Don't you at least have some flats or something I could wear instead?"
Leanansidhe raised an eyebrow to her hairline and smirked, arms folded over her chest. "Darling," she giggled, "Do I look like the kind of girl to wear flats? Please. The only thing you'll get better than that are putting your sneakers back on."
"She'll do it," Catherine informed the Dark Muse, who merely rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"Not on my watch," she said, and snapped her fingers. To Nikki's horror, the shoes latched themselves onto her feet and laced themselves into place, snug against her sole, with no intention of being removed. "There. You look perfect!"
Perfectly ridiculous, thought Nikki faintly, looking sideways at Catherine, as though for help, but her copper haired friend merely gave her a pitying smile as she zipped on her boots, trying not to grimace as she pushed herself carefully to her feet to test them out.
"Ugh," said Nikki, and Trinity giggled slightly.
"Come on, Nik," the blonde girl said, already on her feet, testing out her new footwear, "It's not all that bad. They're just shoes."
"No, these are not shoes," Nikki disagreed firmly. "These are death traps, and you watch. I will trip, I will fall, I will twist or break my ankle tonight, and you all will be held personally responsible for this."
"Oh, please, dear, don't be such a drama queen," sighed Leanansidhe, and as Nikki turned to grimace at the woman it was to see she'd changed her whole appearance in a split second. Her long gown was gone, replaced instead by a curve hugging black ensemble with a bedazzled neckline and straps. She had matching black stilettos already on her feet, and her hair was done up in an elegant twist-knot. Her lips were splashed with ruby red color, and her eyelids were smoky. "There's only room for one queen, and no one likes a drama queen."
Leanansidhe waggled a ringed finger at Nikki, who was still sitting on her pouf, stuck between amazed at the faery's transformation, and indignant that no one was going to help her get out of her shoes. It was such a petty little thing, really, but Nikki knew herself well enough to know that five-inch heels were simply not done. If they had been wedges, sure, maybe she could have dealt with that, but sticks? No, no, no, and so much more NO. It was simply not humane to make a girl walk on five inch long, quarter-inch wide sticks and expect that she wouldn't kill herself and/or others around her.
"Hey, look at it this way," sighed Catherine, coming to stand in front of Nikki, hands outstretched to help her up, "If worst comes to worst, you can just make Puck carry you. I'm sure he'd take pity on you."
"He would," said Nikki, sudden hope dawning.
"Don't even think about it," Leanansidhe scolded the pair of them, a devilish glint in her eyes. "This is solely a girl's night out! The boys can sit on their behinds here and behave like they ought to, but there is no way I am taking them with us! They'd only kill the mood."
"Damn it," muttered Nikki, and Catherine gave a weak smile.
"I tried," she said, shrugging.
"I know," Nikki sighed heavily, finally accepting defeat, "I'll just have to suffer with it. And, hey, if I do break my ankle, we'll have to quit it early!"
"Don't get your hopes up," Trinity muttered, coming up behind them as they finally started out of the closet after Leanansidhe, who was humming gaily to herself, "I bet you that whole closet of shoes that Leanansidhe would just make us all sit at the bar while she glamoured your ankle better and let guys hit on us."
"Don't say things like that," Nikki complained, "They make me feel like I'm fighting a losing battle."
"You are fighting a losing battle," Trinity informed her with a little smirk, laughter evident in her blue eyes.
Nikki gave her friend a dark look, and gratefully took Catherine's arm for support as they tottered out of the closet into the Dark Muse's main bedroom, then out into the grand hallway beyond. As far as Nikki was concerned, the night was already looking to be a grim one. She already didn't like being dressed up and made up, and she figured if this was what Leanansidhe had shoved them in, she didn't even want to imagine the kind of club they were going to get dragged to. Probably some upscale shindig that Nikki had never heard of, except maybe in a Hollywood movie. They wouldn't even serve soda, probably, just champagne and Grey Goose. And, hell, she wasn't even old enough to drink.
Lost in her morose train of thought, it took Nikki a while to realize where they'd finally gone in the house, until she heard a long, loud wolf whistle, and jerked her head up to look around and see they'd entered the sitting room, where, much to her horror and chagrin, Puck was sitting, accompanied by Demon, Tertius, Glitch and Grimalkin. Puck had his eyes fixed on her, the emerald orbs stretched almost to the size of dinner plates as he took in her glitzy appearance and heels and make up. If she hadn't been so embarrassed by the blatant look of interest in the jester's expression, she might have humored herself in thinking she looked like a clown straight from the circus.
"Damn," said Puck quietly, finally lifting his stunned gaze to hers, his face splitting into a broad grin that lit up his eyes so they shone like gems. "Lookin' good, chick. Though, personally, I go hard for the t-shirt and jeans."
Nikki felt herself blush and looked down at her polished toes, mumbling incoherently.
"Don't they look incredible?" sighed Leanansidhe, looking over the three girls like they were show dogs she was proudly putting on display. "I swear. And they all seem like I've done some awful thing to them."
Puck, who had been fixated on Nikki, had to stifle a sudden snort of laughter to see the girl give the Dark Muse a glare behind her back that was the equivalent of "You have." Bending over the chess board set between him and Tertius, he faked a horrendous coughing fit so Glitch—standing just behind him—slammed a hand down on his back, struggling to keep back a smirk of his own. Demon, in the corner by the fireplace with Grimalkin, was giving Catherine a look that was at once apologetic and, perhaps, even a little appreciative. Tertius was quietly assessing Trinity, a small smile on his face as he gave her a very deliberate but discreet once over that she didn't miss, and turned a brilliant shade of pink as she met his intense silver gaze.
"Very classy, ladies," said Grimalkin dully from the fireplace, and it was hard for anyone to tell if he was genuinely sincere or being sarcastic.
So no one answered him.
"Now, we're going out," Leanansidhe announced unnecessarily, waving an arm so a thick mink coat slung itself around her shoulders from out of thin air. Identical coats wrapped up the other three as well, so they exchanged startled looks. "You boys behave yourself, Puck." She fixed the Summer faery with a very severe look that had him grinning from ear to ear.
"What, me?" he asked in mock innocence, and gave Nikki a wink over Leanansidhe's shoulder.
"Yes, you," snapped the Exile Queen, narrowing her blue eyes at him. "If I find one tapestry out of place, or one of my butlers hanging from the ceiling when I come back, I'll know who to blame. And as for the rest of you gentleman"—she turned to beam at the other congregated four—"try to keep him out of trouble, will you? I'd hate to have to waste energy punishing all of you."
Demon and Grimalkin exchanged bored looks, while Glitch gave Puck a dark look as though to say it was entirely his fault this had happened, while Tertius merely glanced over once more at Trinity, then bumped a rook forward on the chessboard.
"We'll be back!" sang Leanansidhe, waving her hand as she turned smartly on her heel to march out the door. "Girls, let's get moving! The bars won't wait!"
"We should be so lucky," muttered Catherine wearily, while Nikki stared desperately at Puck.
"Save me," she whispered, and he gave her a sad smile.
"Oh, beautiful, if only I could," he sighed, rising to his feet and moving across the room to sling an arm around her shoulders, bending to kiss the top of her head, then grimacing slightly. "Good grief, is that hair spray?"
"Yes," said Nikki miserably, staring up at him with sad, brown eyes.
"You poor baby," he said, shaking his head, fighting back a slight smile. "I promise, I will make this up to you when you come back."
"I might not come back alive," she admitted in a hushed tone.
"On my honor," Catherine said, lips twitching in a humorous smile as she caught her friend by the elbow, "You'll come back alive."
"How are you going to protect me?" demanded Nikki. "No offense, Cat, but you're just as endangered in this as I am."
"True," agreed the girl, already pulling her from the living room, leaving Puck to wave idly at them as they vanished from sight, "But I can at least walk in these heels."
"Oh, bite me," sniped Nikki, but she was grinning slightly.
Well, she thought as she followed Trinity, Catherine and Leanansidhe into the main entranceway, if she was going to suffer through the night, at least two out of the three people she was with would make it totally worthwhile. She just hoped she didn't have to worry about ignoring Leanansidhe most of the night, because, unfortunately, that was what she would be doing. It would make life more bearable, so long as the Exile Queen didn't try to make herself more of a nuisance than she already had. And to think, Nikki contemplated to herself as Leanansidhe gathered them together in a circle, this was supposed to be the Queen's idea of making things right after being such a horrible hostess… What a twisted, messed up way of making things up.
"Alright, girls," Leanansidhe said, grabbing hold of Nikki's free hand and Trinity's. "You three hold hands. This is going to be a mass move and it's been a while since I tried to move so many people at once."
"Uh…" Catherine and the others exchanged hesitant looks, and Nikki felt her stomach turn over slightly.
"Define 'a while'," Trinity said slowly, eyeing the Dark Muse, whose only answer was a broad smile that looked more like a shark's grin.
"Hold on tight," the woman instructed them, and immediately the glamour in the room shifted, and all three girls snatched at each other's hands in a panic, clenching so hard that their knuckles turned white.
The room seemed to warp around them, then slowly started to melt from sight, starting with the walls and moving down to the floor until everything disappeared right out from under them. The glamour became a whirlwind, then a tornado, and Nikki closed her eyes in spite of herself, feeling her hair sprayed locks whipping her in the face as the floor went out from under her feet, leaving her and the others hovering in mid-air as blackness spun around them. She could hear a clamoring of voices, and lights flickered over her closed eyelids, multiple shades of color moving so fast she couldn't quite figure out what was what. She was tempted to open her eyes, because even the temperature was changing at a dizzying speed, so she could only imagine they were flying through numerous different places in space, until, all of a sudden, her feet hit solid ground with a sudden jarring motion, and she almost dropped to her knees as she wobbled unsteadily on the stilettos. Catherine's hand gripped harder on her left, holding her upright, and she quickly opened her eyes to aid her balance.
Bracing her feet at shoulder-width apart, an old tactic somebody somewhere had taught her once, she took a few moments, grasping at Catherine's hands, until she felt more stable, and then readied herself enough to lift her head and look around. It was nighttime, wherever they were, and the streets were brightly lit with lampposts all the way down as far as she could see. It took her another second to realize she was standing on a cobble street instead of asphalt, and as she listened to a couple of the people whisking by them, seemingly unaware that four women had just popped into existence beside them, she realized she didn't understand a word of what was being said.
"Uh…" She slowly looked around, craning her neck to take in the scenery around her, and realizing she could see towering buildings of ancient design, with grand balconies and even grander designs along the outer walls, "Where are we?"
"Venice, darling," Leanansidhe said, waving her arms grandly to take in the whole block on which they stood. "The most dazzling place for a nighttime outing with the girls!"
Nikki felt sick all over again. "I don't speak Italian."
"Oh, darling, please," sighed Leanansidhe, looking exasperated. "Did you really think I didn't know that? I know a special little place where we can go, and their wine is to die for!"
"But we're underage to drink," Catherine objected, frowning at the Exile Queen, who fixed her with a dark look.
"We're in Italy, darling," she told her, "Italians drink from the minute they're out of the womb. They won't mind, trust me. Especially not where we're going."
"My question," Trinity inserted as Leanansidhe turned and started a brisk walk down the side street, leaving the rest of them to follow, "Is why we didn't just take a trod to get here in the first place, because, honestly, I'm feeling a little nauseous right about now."
"Trods are so unpredictable," said Leanansidhe, waving a hand, "Besides, I still haven't found the right one to get right into the bar, and it's just so much easier to breeze myself over when I want. Then I don't have to worry about breaking all those nasty little rules about being banished from the Nevernever and all that. And the nausea will wear off, trust me. It just takes a little time."
"It better not take too much time," Trinity grumbled, and Nikki gave her friend a little grin as they exchanged looks.
"Not feeling so dandy about this now, huh?" Nikki teased her friend, who made a face.
"I was fine right up until we went flying through space and time," Trinity muttered back, rolling her bright blue eyes, a hand pressed to her stomach, which felt like it was knotting itself up. "But, then again, I forget about her not being able to go into Faery anymore."
"Yeah, I did, too," admitted Nikki, nodding.
"I just hope we won't get so sick coming back," Catherine confided in a low voice, "Because if she expects us to drink and fly, I'm going to have a few problems."
Nikki and Trinity broke into a fit of giggles at that, and Catherine winked at them, though she wished she felt as much bravado as she was pretending. Even before they'd gotten started on preparations for going out clubbing, she'd already been reluctant to do anything with Leanansidhe, especially when it was so obvious that any idea that was fun to the Dark Muse was so polar opposite to anything Cat would have chosen. But now that they were actually embarking out, undoubtedly to a bar to drink wine and whatever else, she was sorely starting to wish she could have feigned illness or anguish or something just to have been able to stay back at the mansion with the guys. She'd so rather play chess for three hours straight than spend even an hour doing whatever it was Leanansidhe was going to make them do…
And while she was grateful, at least, that her shoulder hadn't so much as twinged since Leanansidhe had put the blocking glamour onto it, she still couldn't quite feel much more than a mild resentfulness that Leanansidhe's attempt to make up for being a terrible hostess had turned into something she was certain only the faery Queen, and possibly Trinity and Nikki, could really enjoy. Because she was quite certain she was going to spend the whole night sitting at the bar, sipping water and making occasional trips to the restroom, and not much else.
So, with that misery settling down in her mind, she wobbled precariously on her heels down the cobble street with Trinity on her left, and Nikki leaning heavily on her right. She knew probably that Nikki wasn't as accident prone in stilettos as the girl was thinking herself, but she had her own worries now that the street wasn't exactly leveled out, and more than once along the way she felt her heart freeze in her chest as she stumbled and nearly teetered back onto her rump. Thankfully, Trinity and Nikki both were able to help steady her, and they took rotating turns helping keep each other upright, though not once along the way did Leanansidhe seem to have an issue with her footwear. Go figure.
"If we don't get there soon," Nikki was complaining ten minutes later, and they were still walking quickly after the Dark Muse, "I'm throwing these shoes in the river."
"I heard that!" Leanansidhe shot over her shoulder without turning, and Nikki grimaced. "And we're almost there, so don't pull out on me yet!"
"I've already pulled out," sighed Catherine, shaking her head morosely. "Mentally, I'm back at the mansion whooping Demon at chess."
"Are you now?" asked Trinity with an amused grin.
"Indeed," agreed Cat, smirking back at her friend. "If you don't believe me, ask me a question."
"What are you thinking of doing at the bar?" Nikki asked, raising an eyebrow, a half smile on her face.
"I'm sorry," Catherine said in her best imitation of an automated voice machine, "Catherine is not in right now. Please leave a message after the tone and she will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day."
Trinity and Nikki burst out laughing, causing heads to turn in their direction as they continued teetering down the street after Leanansidhe, who glanced back once, a little smile on her face, but otherwise did not respond. Continuing to lead them on in silence for another few minutes before finally seeming to spot what she was looking for.
"Ah, here we are!" she sang at last, and the three girls slowed to a standstill behind her as she turned, beaming to gaze up at a two story villa, all creamy stone and plaster, with a sign reading Il Lago Ghiacciato highlighted in silvery writing on a glossy black wood plaque.
"'The Frosted Lake'?" Trinity asked, surprising Leanansidhe.
"You read Italian?" the Dark Muse asked with a smile.
"A bit," the girl admitted, shrugging, "I have old family in Italy. Not around here, though."
"Should we be worried?" Catherine asked then, and the others turned to look at her.
"Why would you ask that?" Leanansidhe asked mildly.
"This is a fey bar, isn't it?" asked Catherine, glancing over at the woman through apprehensive jade eyes.
"It is," the woman confirmed, smirking, "Otherwise there'd be humans all over this place."
"They don't see it," Nikki realized then, having finally become aware that all the humans walking by them weren't even so much as glancing over at the tavern.
"No, they don't," agreed Leanansidhe. "It's glamoured. So, to them, it looks like a really old book shop that's closed down. And we're within its boundaries and fey so it cloaks us so it doesn't look like four fashionable ladies like us are breaking into an old building."
"This is some Harry Potter mess right here," said Nikki under her breath. "Can you say 'Leaky Cauldron'?"
"This isn't a Summer fey owned bar, though, is it?" asked Catherine, recapturing the others' attention.
"How do you figure?" asked Leanansidhe, still half smiling.
"The color scheme and the name," said Catherine quietly, now looking very apprehensive to go inside.
And she wasn't the only one. Trinity and Nikki were eyeing the front of the bar as though the door might just open its jaws and snap them in half.
"Bars are neutral territory, darlings," Leanansidhe told them, giving a tinkling laugh. "It's not as though you're going to start a war by ordering a drink in here! Besides, no one messes with me, and you're my guests of honor. So don't be so jittery and come on."
She marched ahead and opened the door leading inside, letting the aroma of chilled wine and frosty air come spilling out into the street. There were dim blue lights flickering inside, and shadows moved here and there just inside the view the open doorway offered. And Catherine found herself wishing more than ever before that she'd just stayed at the mansion.
"This is not a good idea," she muttered to the other two, who nodded their agreement, but realized there was no sense in going back now. Besides, Leanansidhe had a point. They were with her. That, if nothing else, should serve as a source of comfort.
So gathering their wits together, and linking arms, the three of them strode forward and into the bar, Leanansidhe trailing behind them to firmly shut the door, enclosing them in cool, misty shadows. The scene wasn't at all what a bar would have looked like in Catherine's mind. Sure, there was music and people out on the floor dancing, but there was no wild partying like she was so used to seeing in Hollywood's depictions. But, then again, her mother had always told her not to believe everything she saw on TV… The lights all around were turned down and a dusky blue color that filtered around the room, illuminating most places, but leaving others mysteriously shaded. But they could still see the edges of tables looming out from the darkness, and in some spots, eyes gleamed back at them, indicating the shadows weren't as empty, or harmless, as they might seem.
There were all manner of fey littering the room, which wasn't all that big. Some were sitting at the tables, sipping on drinks that didn't look remotely like wine or anything else they'd ever seen, while others were dancing sensually on the floor, arms twined around each other, necking, or standing in the corners of the room, getting drunk on the mixture of glamour all around the place. Just stepping towards the bar, Catherine felt a little dizzy from the swirling winter glamour, while, on either side of her, Nikki and Trinity seemed to be feeling even more nauseous than before.
"Ugh," Trinity groaned, sitting down heavily in a barstool and leaning back against the bar the minute they were within range. "This is just…too much freaking glamour."
"Too much winter glamour," Nikki corrected, grimacing as she, too, settled herself in a seat with Catherine on her other side. Leanansidhe pretty much ignored them, speaking in low tones to the bartender, ordering drinks. "I actually feel kinda chilly right now, and this fur isn't exactly light."
"No kidding," agreed Trinity. Catherine stayed quiet. She didn't feel the cold. She didn't even feel remotely chilled. As a matter of fact, she was starting to feel a little hot under her mink fur, and discretely shrugged out of it, letting it lay on the barstool.
"You okay, Cat?" Trinity asked, noticing Catherine shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"I feel bad," she admitted, glancing from under mascara coated lashes at her friend and frowning. "I don't feel the cold at all and you guys are practically freezing."
"Don't feel bad, hon," Nikki reassured her, smiling slightly and patting her gently on the shoulder, wary of her injury. "We'll just have extra chilled drinks, is all."
"And at least we won't be nasty and sweaty by the end of this," Trinity added with a wink and a smile. "You, on the other hand, already look like you're feeling a little hot."
Catherine made a face. "I want to take this jacket off," she admitted, plucking at the dressy little article of clothing, "But I know that's a bad idea, thanks to those marks."
"Just regulate your glamour, dear," Leanansidhe instructed, startling the three of them as she sat down as well, and waved to the bartender, who plunked down four tall flutes of sparkling red liquid in front of them. "You'll feel fine in no time."
"I don't know how to regulate my glamour," Catherine told the woman in an embarrassed undertone, glancing around as though to see if anyone else had been within hearing range of her.
Leanansidhe blinked, looking a little surprised, but quickly composed herself as she whipped out a smoking stick from seemingly nowhere and lit it, immediately causing blue smoke to filter out from the tip.
"Well, that's unfortunate," she sighed, shaking her head and frowning. "I just suppose that means you'll need extra ice in your drink. And, fortunately, that's no problem here."
Lifting her glass, she raised it to the three girls, as though toasting and smiled, "To a fabulous girl's night out."
Trinity, Nikki and Catherine exchanged similar looks of resignation, then took up their glasses as well and lifted them half-heartedly before taking cautious sips. Catherine hesitated before drinking hers, sniffing at the mixture experimentally, and nearly coughing on the heady grape scent wafting up from the glass. Very obviously wine, but it could just as easily be faery wine, given its sparkling quality, and only after catching Nikki's eye and receiving a reassuring nod from her friend did she take the tiniest of sips. The taste was rich and thick, like chocolate, only wine flavored, and sizzled slightly on her tongue she coughed a bit and hurriedly set the glass down. She didn't know what the heck she was drinking, but she didn't really particularly care to test the waters tonight. Not around Leanansidhe anyway. And speaking of the Dark Muse, it looked to her as if the woman had already emptied her glass and was getting a refill from the bartender, who looked like he might have a bit of ogre in him.
"Not to your liking, miss?" the bartender asked, having spotted Catherine's moderately untouched drink.
"No, sorry," she admitted with a slight smile. The bartender merely shrugged and whisked the beverage away, returning a split second later with a sparkling clear liquid in a plain glass.
"This might be more to your liking," he said when Catherine glanced uncertainly at it, "A little lighter. Sits easier on the stomach."
"Thank you," Catherine said without thinking, only realizing her mistake a split second later when the ogre-ish barkeep gave her a stunned look, then glanced at Leanansidhe, who gave a tinkling laugh.
"You'll have to forget she said that," the Dark Muse explained, patting the fey's arm and beaming at him, "She's new to our side. And she's a half-breed."
Catherine tried not to wince at the reference, or the way the bartender looked at her with sudden understanding—and even a bit of repugnance—as he registered Leanansidhe's words. Trinity shot a dirty look over at the Dark Muse when she wasn't looking, and Nikki frowned as she looped an arm through Catherine's.
"She didn't mean it like that," the dark haired girl murmured in her ear, and Catherine nodded, but she didn't quite believe it.
If using 'she's a half-breed' as an excuse was so commonplace, Catherine got the feeling that it meant exactly what it sounded like. It was an insult, and it meant—to the other fey at least—that she was slow, stupid, and not worth much notice. Because she got the feeling the bartender wouldn't be favoring her anytime soon given how he resolutely had his back to her now. She tried not to take it personally, but it was really hard when it seemed that it was pretty personal to the fey around her if she was a half-blood. Not like it was her fault or anything like that; she hadn't chosen her parents. But that seemingly didn't matter around these people…
"I'll be back in a sec," she muttered to Nikki and Trinity, slipping off of her stool and stepping away from the bar.
"Where are you going?" Nikki blinked in surprise and concern at her friend.
"Bathroom," said Catherine with a small smile that didn't quite manage to look as reassuring as she'd hoped. She quickly turned away. "I'll be right back."
She took a second to look around the room, trying to be inconspicuous about it, and spotted a side hall just a little ways off from the bar itself, and when she didn't see anything that looked more likely to be a bathroom, she walked towards it, her head bowed to avoid making eye contact with the other fey she slipped past, though a couple of times she would glance up to avoid slamming into another faery. And once she had to quickly look up and side step as a satyr perched just at the edge of the bar reached out, a leer on his face. Repressing a shudder and darting around him, putting a fox-earred girl between them who gladly latched onto the goat-man, she darted down the hall towards a pair of doors, labeled 'Male' and 'Female' respectively.
She hesitated before putting a hand out to the wooden slab, almost immediately having to leap back as it slammed outward, allowing a pair of giggling girls with horns and purple skin to stagger into the hallway, clinging to each other, and looking distinctly tipsy as they leaned heavily against the wall, hiccupping. Only sparing them a glance, Catherine slipped inside the restroom, registering that there were no other occupants, and taking a moment to relish that she at least had a little bit of time to herself before some other female decided she needed to use the facility. Heaving a sigh, she paused in front of the marble sinks, which each had a personal, guilt framed mirror set above them, and stared into the reflective surface at her own image.
Her hair was still copper colored and cut to her shoulders, but thanks to the curse that was hairspray and god-knew what else Leanansidhe had put in it before they'd left the mansion, it was fluffed out to almost twice its usual volume, making her face look even narrower than usual, and accenting her smoky eye. Her lips were coral pink, bordering on red, and looked way too large for her face. The glittering emerald earrings hanging from her lobes also seemed over large, and the one gem at her throat looked to be the size of a golf ball. She hadn't really noticed at the mansion; probably because Leanansidhe had deliberately avoided letting them look in the mirror, probably so she wouldn't have to argue with them over make-up and everything else.
She struggled with the sudden urge to wipe off the makeup and put the earrings in the shoulder bag Leanansidhe had given her, along with the necklace. She figured the Dark Muse couldn't really do anything about it if she took everything off, so long as she didn't lose it, and as far as Cat was concerned, none of this was necessary. To her, Leanansidhe wasn't trying to make things better for them, but make herself feel better. None of them had wanted to go on this outing, least of all her. Well…that wasn't fair. Nikki probably was having a worse time than she was at the moment, but she figured Trinity and Leanansidhe were probably sharing a giggle over something or other. They might not be identical in their opinions and habits, but they had enough in common to get along decently well.
Giving a small sigh of resignation, she marched up to the sink, and put the shoulder bag down on the marble surface, unzipping it. She unhooked the earrings and carefully stowed them in a side pocket to avoid being obvious, and the necklace immediately followed, tucked into a deeper pocket. Grabbing a couple of paper towels from the dispenser, she turned on the faucet and doused them with water. She took a minute to wring out the excess moisture, then set about the task of cleaning off the lip gloss, the blush, the eye shadow, even the foundation. All in all, it felt like taking off a mask, and it took a good few paper towels before she finally accomplished her task, and a couple pokes in the eye to go with it. Eventually, though, when she looked at herself in the mirror after the fourteenth towel went into the trash, she was starting to recognize herself a little more. There wasn't much she could do on the front of her hair, short of washing it in the sink, and she wasn't willing to walk around with a wet head the whole time. So she merely ran her fingers through it over and over until she'd combed most of her hair out and down so it looked a little less ostentatiously poofy. She would have pulled it back into a short ponytail, but she didn't have a hair band, and didn't imagine she'd be able to find one in the shoulder bag, so she just pushed it back from her face a little and settled for what she had.
Taking another moment to stare herself down in the mirror, she suddenly found herself angry. Angry at Leanansidhe, angry at the bartender…angry at every fey in the bar who looked at her and thought of her as 'just a half-breed'. The surge came on fast and hard, and for moment she was struggling with furious tears. For the first time in a long time, she really wanted to hit something, or to walk out into the bar and demand to know who really believed she wasn't as good as them. She couldn't be worse than the ogre barman, or the satyr, and she'd dealt with his kind before… Other than her blood, what made her less than them? What made Trinity or Nikki less than them? They hadn't chosen who they were. They'd just been born that way, and why should they be persecuted for it? It wasn't fair…
She took a few deep breaths, stunned by her own indignation. She'd never been an angry person before… It wasn't in her blood… Heck, maybe it was. What did she know about her father, after all? He could be some violent raving Cait Sith for all she knew. Looking at Grimalkin was evidence enough that Cait Siths could be fairly nasty if they wanted to. But still… Catherine didn't understand where that sudden flush of anger had come from, but it was gone now, and she was left staring at her teary-eyed reflection and wishing with all her heart that she could just walk out of the bar and go back to Leanansidhe's mansion. But she couldn't travel through space and time at the snap of her fingers, and she certainly didn't think anyone in this bar would have a trod leading to the Between. So that only left her with the option of sucking it up like the big girl she was and going back out to spend the night lounging at the bar with Nikki and Trinity, and hoping the next few hours flew by.
She inhaled a slow, deep, cleansing breath, then blew it out as she grabbed the shoulder bag and slung it across her uninjured shoulder, staring into her reflection's jade eyes, glad, at least, that she didn't look as dismal as she felt. Maybe she could convince herself to be happy long enough to survive the night, telling lame third-grade jokes with Tri and Nik until Leanansidhe decided it was time to go home. She marched out of the bathroom, catching sight of the horned girls lying sprawled on the floor outside, hiccupping and giggling, clearly not in a position to be moving. Stepping carefully over them, she moved back towards the main area of the bar, trying not to notice that a couple of satyrs had gathered at the end of the hallway, having taken notice of the two drunk fey girls in the back. They didn't even glance at her as she went by and she was grateful for it, though she wished she had enough guts to turn around and tell them if they didn't clear out she'd take their heads off or something equally threatening. But there was no bravado in her, and she was glad to see the ogre bartender striding over to the satyrs, his face firmly set, his hands in fists. She scurried by, and just in time, because a split second later he roared,
"You filthy vermin better clear outta here before I take you apart with my bare hands!"
Glancing over her shoulder, Cat saw the goat men scattering before the bartend, who was brandishing his enormous fists at them. They hightailed it through the crowd, and vanished through the front door to raucous cheers. Apparently, satyrs weren't very welcome guests at any event…thank goodness.
Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Catherine worked her way back to the bar, glad to see Nikki and Trinity still seated there, though Leanansidhe had disappeared. It didn't take long to locate the Dark Muse, though, for it was hard to miss such a striking figure out on the dance floor, even being surrounded by other fey as she was, her body moving in time to the thumping music. Her vibrant hair flickered like live flames in the dim blue firelight, and her steps were measured and graceful as she swayed and danced to the beat, eyes closed, and a smile on her face, arms in the air.
"Glad someone's having fun," Cat said as she rejoined the other two at the bar.
"No kidding," snorted Tri, then did a double take as she caught sight of her friend's makeup free face. "Cat, what happened to your stuff?"
"The jewelry's in the bag and I got sick of wearing makeup," Cat explained, giving her friend a dull look. "It's my little rebellion for getting dragged out like this. I even thought about washing the hairspray out, but I figured I'd rather not embarrass myself more than Leanansidhe already has."
Nikki and Tri frowned at their friend, realizing what she meant, and they both slung an arm each around her shoulders, hugging her.
"This was just a bad idea," said Nikki with a tired sigh, resting her forehead on Catherine's shoulder.
"If I thought we could convince her to leave now, I would," Trinity added, casting a dark look in Leanansidhe's direction. "I get the feeling she only did this for herself."
"What gave you that idea?" asked Catherine sarcastically, giving her blond friend a wry smile that had the other girl grinning.
"What gets me," Tri said, making a deliberate show of looking around, "Is that there aren't even any cute guys to dance with."
"There would be if a particular group of guys we happen to know were here," Nikki pointed out with a sly smirk. "But, noooo, it had to be a girl's night out."
"Ugh," groaned Trinity, shuddering slightly. "This is more like One Girl's Night Out, and the other three just chill at the bar, not drinking, not having fun, wishing they were back at the mansion."
"Yep, pretty much," agreed Nikki, and Catherine nodded her assent as well. "Anyone know how to teleport?"
"If only," muttered Tri, "I didn't get that far with my glamour, and I figure you've got to be as powerful as Leanansidhe to manage that kind of mess."
Nikki sighed remorsefully and shook her head. "Too bad…"
They sat in silence for a while, just watching the other fey dance to the music, not really paying attention to anything, just leaning into each other and thinking of how much better things at the mansion had to be. Well, the grass was always greener on the other side, remembered Catherine idly, closing her eyes for a short moment, just for a respite from the sights of everything. She already felt ready to keel over into a bed, but there was no place to sleep in a bar, and she didn't trust anybody except the two girls around her at the moment, so she wasn't about to risk clocking out in strange territory. Her mother hadn't raised a fool, after all. But in the split second she'd closed her eyes, a slight scent invaded her senses, and she snapped to attention, looking around with wide jade eyes.
"What?" Nikki asked, having been jarred by the sudden upright motion, looking at Catherine in slight alarm. "Is it your shoulder?"
"No," said Catherine, shaking her head, "I just…do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Tri asked, glancing around uncertainly as though maybe she could see the smell.
"It smells like…ice," Catherine said slowly, inhaling again.
"Everything smells like ice, hon," Nikki told her with a twitch of her lips, her brown eyes laughing slightly.
"Well, it's not just ice, though," Cat murmured, half focused on the conversation, half on the scent now wafting very evidently through the air. "It's like…spearmint or something."
The minute the word left her mouth, she was transported back in time, her mind's eye fixating on an event that seemed so long ago; staring up into a pale face, with frosty green eyes, surrounded by the smell of ice and spearmint. Her heart lodged suddenly in her throat as she jerked back to the present, her eyes enormous as she stared around the room, trying to pinpoint the smell, and at the same time refusing to believe it. There was just no way… No way in hell. Why would he be here?
"Cat?" Nikki could see her friend's face frozen in an expression somewhere between disbelief and horror, and felt a resonating note of unease in her chest. She touched her friend's arm. "Cat, what's wrong?"
"I…don't know," Cat admitted, her eyes scanning restlessly. She couldn't see him, but the smell was unmistakable. But why would he be here?!
She focused on the shadows, trying to find something, but she couldn't get a thing from them. She just couldn't see him. She took a deep breath, inhaling the spearmint and ice smell, and forced herself to relax. The smell could mean any number of things. It didn't mean he was here. Besides, why in the world would a Winter Prince come to a place like this? Italy or not, it was still on human turf. And humans were by all standards repugnant. There was just no way.
She twitched as a glass clinked behind her, and, turning briefly, she spotted the ogre bartender setting down a drink in front of a wooden skinned dryad. She started to turn away, but the spearmint smell suddenly increased, and, glancing back again, she saw that the drink in front of the dryad was a startling shade of bright green, with a teal colored leaf sitting neatly atop the surface of the liquid, and the smell of spearmint was nearly overpowering right up until the dryad picked up the glass and knocked by the entire thing in one go. She set the glass back down with a deep, satisfied sigh and signaled the bartender for another. As Catherine watched, entranced, another green drink was slid down the bar to the fey, reeking of ice and spearmint.
"Cat?"
She turned to Trinity, her heart slowly returning to its steady rhythm.
"Sorry," she mumbled, meeting her friend's concerned blue eyes as she looked up, "I thought it was something else."
"Thought what was?" Leanansidhe asked, coming up suddenly, looking totally exhilarated as she exited the dance floor, her skin practically glowing.
"She said she smelled something weird and it bothered her for a second," Trinity inserted smoothly before Catherine could answer. "It just ended up being that drink, I guess."
Catherine nodded when Leanansidhe glanced at her.
"Well, you girls are missing all the fun," the Dark Muse told them, waggling a finger and beaming hugely. "Really, I brought you out here to party!" She suddenly realized Catherine wasn't wearing jewels or makeup and gasped. "What happened to your makeup?!"
"It was starting to run from sweating," Catherine lied, feeling only the tiniest twinge of regret as she said it, "And the jewelry was too heavy. I put it in the purse for safe keeping, though."
She patted the shoulder bag, but Leanansidhe continued to frown disapprovingly.
"Well, for crying out loud," she sighed, shaking her auburn head so the long tresses went dancing over her shoulders, "All that work gone to waste. At least your clothes still look fabulous."
She should be so lucky, thought Catherine drily.
"Now, I am demanding that you girls come dance with me," the Exile Queen instructed, seizing Nikki and Trinity by the hands and dragging them from their stools, "And that goes for you, too"—she fixed Catherine with a level stare—"No backing out! It's a girls' night and there are some fine gentlemen on the floor waiting for a chance to dance with you girls!"
All three girls looked as though they could have cared less what 'fine gentlemen' were waiting for them, already thinking back to the ones they had waiting at home for them, but Leanansidhe didn't release them, and Nikki and Tri latched onto Cat, much to her chagrin, and dragged her with them as the faery Queen pulled them to the floor, only releasing them once they were there and unable to escape.
"Come on, girls, be a little more excited," she trilled at them, immediately finding a partner with a fairly good looking fey with a shock of blue hair and glittering black eyes.
Tri exchanged droll looks with Nik and Cat, and the three of them formed a loose circle together, resigned to the Dance of the Single Girls. They'd sooner do that than partner up with some of the leering fey around them, and, personally, Nikki had half a mind to sit down on the dance floor just to spite Leanansidhe, but she didn't want to leave Cat and Tri on their own to suffer, so she sucked it up and danced in spite of the five inch heels threatening to go out from under her at any second.
"Worst girl's night ever," Trinity muttered under her breath to the others.
"You're not kidding," said Nikki with a tight smile.
"If it gets her to let us out of her faster, the better," Catherine added, twirling Nikki under her arm just for the heck of it.
The other two nodded and muttered their fervent agreement, and continued dancing half heartedly to the music, not really paying much attention to what was going on around them. Catherine made to move a little to the left as one fey danced too close with his partner, and nearly stepped into another Winter faery who had apparently been trying to creep up behind her. The minute she locked eyes with him, though, he gave a suave smile and offered her a hand, as thought expecting her to brush off the fact he'd been attempting to freak dance behind her.
"Like to dance?" he asked, flashing a set of jagged white teeth.
"No, thanks," she said, giving him a cold smile of her own. "I've already got a partner."
She took Nikki's hand to emphasize a point, but the fey only leered all the more broadly.
"Three's a party, I hear," he said, stepping closer, his eyes all black, not evidence of white around the edges, and Nikki turned to stand side-by-side with Cat, squaring off.
"We said no thanks," she said firmly, glaring up at him.
The fey glanced down at her, looking startled, and looked her quickly up and down, as though just realizing something.
"You're a Summer?" he asked, his toothy smile back in evidence, with much more malice than before, and took a deliberate step towards Nikki.
Catherine stepped between him and the dark haired girl, who was looking alarmed.
"Back off," Catherine warned him, taking a defensive stance.
"Oh, now," he chuckled, reaching out for her arm, and she felt her stomach disappear as she realized his fingernails were actually two-inch long talons, "Don't be like that. I just wanna mess her up a little. You can help, if you want."
"I said, back off," Catherine said quietly, trying not to let her alarm show.
"Hey, freak show." Trinity was suddenly there, glaring furiously at the fey. "I think they told you to clear out."
"Another Summer?" The fey positively leered at Trinity. "Man, this is just my lucky night, huh?"
Trinity's expression flickered for a second, then became stone hard as she stood resolute in front of him.
"Back off, jackass. We've got equal right to be here. Same as you."
"Actually, you guys are on my turf," he sneered at them, and his talons grew another inch; his teeth looked a little sharper, "So I figure you guys need to clear out or I get to make pretty cuts on your faces."
He was reaching out for them, and Catherine found herself frozen in fear.
But a sudden gust blew through the room, and a surge of glamour made the blue flames dance wildly.
"Problem, girls?" asked a light voice, and Leanansidhe slid into view as the whole dance floor grew quiet.
Hands on hips, her blue eyes were alight with fire as she stared down the Winter faery, who was suddenly looking as though he might have stepped on a giant rattlesnake. Catherine looked over at the Exile Queen, and realized just how fey the woman could look when she wanted. Her glamour was resonating so powerfully that it was blowing her hair out like live flames, and her dress shimmered around her. They could practically feel the vibrations rolling off of her, utter menace evident in the way she stepped towards the faery.
"L-Leanansidhe," the fey said, his voice shooting up an octave.
"I hope you're not making a hard time for my girls," Leanansidhe said to him, flashing a dazzling smile that looked more like a wolf baring its teeth.
"N-no, ma'am," said the fey, reeling backwards a good twenty steps before he slammed up against the chest of the bartender, who had come out to see what the problem was. The fey slowly tilted his head back until he was staring up into the ogre's snarling face, and all color drained from his already white face. He squeaked, and then shrieked as the bartend picked him up by the back of his shirt and hauled him towards the doorway, opening to toss him face first out into the street.
There was quiet after the door slammed shut, and the ogre turned back to look at Leanansidhe, who graced him with a gleaming smile.
"Excellent work, Lire," she said, blowing him a kiss, to which he bowed his head and shuffled back behind the bar. "Now, let's start up the music again!"
There was a split second's pause, then the floor came alive again almost immediately as though nothing had happened to interrupt the dancers. Leanansidhe didn't even stop to check on Trinity and the others, going right back to her dance with her blue haired partner.
"Jeez," said Nikki, her voice slightly hoarse, her eyes very wide. "That really scared me…I'm not even going to lie."
"Same," agreed Trinity in a discreet murmur. "So much for neutral territory, huh?"
"It wouldn't have been if Leanansidhe hadn't been here," Catherine murmured, glancing over at the Exile Queen.
"He didn't seem to want to pick a fight with you, though," Nikki said, glancing at Cat.
"He could probably tell I wasn't Summer," Cat said, shrugging, trying not to be bothered. "He only wanted to dance with me. He was after you guys once he realized you were Summer."
"He wanted more than a dance, Cat, you know that," Trinity chastised her.
Cat didn't answer. She didn't want to think about it. It was done and the rat bastard was out the door, so why worry about it?
"Whatever," Nikki said, as though sensing that Catherine was trying to avoid thinking about the issue, "Let's just get back to dancing, alright? Or whatever the heck we were doing before the creeper showed up."
"Sounds good to me," said Trinity and Catherine nodded gratefully as she twined hands with her friends and began a casual circle dance to the beat.
No one else came close to them, seeming to realize that being with Leanansidhe left approaching them as good as a death wish unless they had something nice to say, so they didn't have to worry much about bumping into anyone. The other dancers also took it in good grace to ignore them completely, which worked perfectly fine for Catherine. She'd rather be ignored than ogled at this point, and any chance she had to disappear into the floor was absolutely fine with her. So they carried on for a good few minutes, unbothered, only worrying about the rhythm of the music. They didn't even really bother talking, but Catherine figured it was because they were all focusing on something much happier than being stuck where they currently were. As for her, she was picturing being back at the mansion, as she had been, sitting in bed or in front of the fire, playing chess—losing quite horribly, she had to admit, because she couldn't play chess to save her life—but at least it would be better than this.
But after a while, even she had to admit she was thirsty and tired, even of just switching feet on the dance floor, and slipped away from the others to go to the bar, hoping at least for a drink of water if nothing else. Trinity offered to go with her, but Nikki was going to end up stranded on the dance floor then, because Leanansidhe had gotten bored of her other partner and had decided to amuse herself dancing with Nik instead, so Cat convinced the blonde girl to stay behind and keep an eye on things and make sure Leanansidhe didn't just absolutely drive Nikki insane or make her trip over her high heels. That, and Cat wanted a bit of alone time. She was feeling depressed again, and she couldn't handle even her best friends at points like this.
So as she broke away, slipping through the multiple bodies back to the bar, she took a few breaths to clear her head, and had at least moderately eased her stress by the time she had approached the bar and caught Lire's attention.
"Yeah?" he grunted at her.
"Water?" she asked hopefully.
He grunted again and reached behind him for a glass, which he filled with clear water from a jug on a low shelf. He passed it down the bar to her, and, after remembering not to thank him this time, she turned so her back was to the wooden bar, glass in hand, and set her eyes on the dance floor, glad for the coolness of the water on her parched throat. She sipped at it slowly, not in any rush to get back on the dance floor, and let her mind wander as she continued to let the music lull her and the mindless sway of bodies deaden her brain.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, very close to her, and, figuring it was another fey trying to catch the bartend's attention, she shifted slightly to give them room, not really looking over at them. But a split second later when a hand came down rather hard on her arm, she startled and looked around, jerking back in automatic response.
"Hey—!" She tugged at her arm, but the fey didn't release her.
She looked up, her expression between furious and alarmed, and in a split second felt all the breath leave her in a rush as she locked gazes with a pair of glittering, ice blue eyes, set into a pale, handsome, smirking face. She was so stunned, in fact, she didn't feel the glass slip out of her fingers to shatter on the floor, spraying water in all directions, not even when the bartender turned and demanded to know what had happened. She just couldn't believe what she was seeing, too horrified to comprehend that Rowan was, in fact, standing right in front of her, with her arm trapped in his cool hand. Her stomach had completely dissolved, and her mouth had gone dry, leaving her voiceless.
